What Is the Role of Silence?

This one listens for silence—not as absence, but as the ground from which meaning arises:

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TOPO:

We fill the space with words,

as if silence were something to avoid.

RHEO:

But silence is not empty.

It’s pregnant with possibility.

TOPO:

So meaning doesn’t only come from what is said—

but also from what is not said?

RHEO:

Yes.

Every utterance leans against a silence

that gives it shape.

TOPO:

Then silence is not absence—

it’s presence in another register.

RHEO:

Exactly.

The unsaid is not nothing.

It is a partner in the dance.

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RHEO & TOPO:

Meaning is born between word and hush.

We speak not to escape silence,

but to enter into rhythm with it.